STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Principal Dr. Aurelia Curtis only got word Chancellor Dennis Walcott would visit her school late Friday afternoon, after all the students and most of the staff had gone for the weekend.

But when Walcott arrived at the school this morning, he was greeted with an assembly highlighting each learning community of the school, complete with gifts and student performances.

And the school's ability to put it together speaks loudly to its strengths, both Walcott and Dr. Curtis said.

"I think it speaks to the culture of Curtis and the things that are going on here," Dr. Curtis said.

Walcott, meanwhile, told reporters they came to Curtis to showcase and talk about "a school that is a big school, that is working extremely well, is diverse, and has a broad range of programs."

"I think Curtis is a school that we should all be very proud of and model after," Walcott said.

Walcott was greeted at the door by members of the JROTC, and then in the hallway by students in the International Baccalaureate program. While most school visits usually entail a quick tour where the chancellor pops into classrooms, Walcott was ushered into a packed auditorium for presentations from Curtis students.

At the start, Dr. Curtis rattled off the school's achievements -- the oldest secondary school in the borough; the only IB program in Staten Island; the only practical nursing program on the Island; the oldest JROTC on the Island; champion girls' basketball and cross country teams and "a place where young men and women are given an opportunity every day to achieve their potential."

In part due to the many attractive programs it offers, Curtis has grappled with overcrowding for more than a decade. During a tour of the school, Walcott was shown temporary classroom units, or TCUs, located where the handball courts once were. Dr. Curtis told him the narrow stairways leading to the outdoor units made it impossible to use them during inclement winter weather.

Walcott told the Advance he was aware of the ongoing issue.

"Dr. Curtis and I are going to talk. And as a matter of fact, during the tour she showed me their TCUs, and we're going to talk," he said. "I am aware of what's going on here and so we'll see what can be done."

He said Borough President James Molinaro has also expressed strong support for finding solutions to the overcrowding. The school is in demand, Walcott said, which doesn't help with the overcrowding.

"Part of Curtis's challenge is that Curtis is doing such a great job, as well," he said. "I just met a student who literally commutes from the Bronx."

In the assembly, Dr. Curtis said she hoped to give Walcott a "snapshot" of a day at Curtis.

"Yes, we did a little extra today," she said. "Don't leave here thinking it's only today. We do a little extra every day... Our students deserve that little extra."

Walcott heard from a slew of successful Curtis students from each of the school's small learning communities. Nyasia Rose, in the Computer Business Institute, said a co-op through that program led her to student teaching at PS 18.

"The experience has shown me that working with children is what I really love to do," she said.

Bianca Rajpersaud came into Curtis as a "unmotivated student." After being part of the Human & Legal Studies program, she has an internship at a prestigious law firm and is heading to Seton Hall next year.

"Curtis High School has molded me into the person I am today," she said.

Tylisha Richardson formerly attended a small high school in the Bronx -- where she didn't earn many credits and fell behind. But that changed at Curtis, where she was part of the Instructional Support Services program and will now graduate with a Regents diploma in June.

"I met a lot of special people here who took an interest in me," she said.

Korto Togba, meanwhile, is getting ready to live out her dreams thanks to the Nursing program.

"As a little girl in Liberia I always dreamed of being a nurse," she said.

Walcott was also treated to a performance of "The Way You Look Tonight," by the Curtis Jazz Band, with Joseph Grahek singing, and a performance of "The Wild Things" by the Curtis Composition Dance Class with Carmen Nicole of Battery Dance Company.

When it was his turn to speak, Walcott asked all the students who had presented to join him on stage.

"The reason I came to Curtis High School is standing with me here today," he said.

He also told the students they had plenty in common. He recalled having an afro just like one student's back when he was in school, and playing trombone in his high school band.

"I'm just like you. I went to New York City public high school," he said.

He also recalled a fond memory from his adulthood -- playing in a Staten Island touch/tackle football league. He played all over the borough, but Curtis stood out, he said.

"It's the only place where I actually made an interception and scored a touchdown," he said.

Walcott also encouraged those students thinking about education as a career.

"The best thing anyone can do is become a teacher," he said. "In being a teacher you are making the world a better place."